The Moon and the Stars
by SavageNymph
Summary: Remus Lupin is about to die at the Battle of Hogwarts. Sirius is there to guide him. SiriusxRemus, LilyxJames, flashbacks and flash-forwards. Title: The Moon and Stars by the Gryffindor Commonroom Rejects.


There was no pain. Remus thought, dully, that there should be pain.

Part of Hogwarts ancient walls had crushed his life arm in the last explosion. He was pinned to the ground in a sick parody of a sitting position. His head had been pretty hard, too. And still there was no pain.

He wanted to shout for help. But his voice would not carry. Or perhaps, he only thought that. Perhaps, pinned under the rock of a castle that had been his true home for so long, he was once again pinned by the quietness that had been his curse and his blessing while within these walls.

What he really wanted to do was lay his head back against the remaining stone and close his eyes. But his son—little Teddy—and Tonks. Harry. Remus had to move. Somehow.

_"You're so tired, Moony." _

Remus's head jerked up, he looked over, heart pounding suddenly. That voice. Rich, a growl at the back of the throat, taunting and kind all at the same time. There was a glitter in the air to his left, nothing so substantial as a ghost...but…

The curve of lips. The shimmer of a dark eye. The slope of a familiar, aristocratatic nose.

"S-sirius?" Remus couldn't stop the words as they spilled from his mouth, twisting around as far as his mangled arm allowed.

_"Moony." _

His face was clearer now, slightly indistinct, glowing with an innate gold light. A body followed. Teenage Sirius appeared before him—the Sirius before Azkaban. Handsome, confident, eyes not totally swallowed with pain.

"Impossible." Remus's eyelids fluttered. "Merlin's beard, I've gone insane."

The shadow seemed to slide out of existence and reappear closer to Remus, like a dust mote floating in and out of sunlight. He knelt down and reached out to touch Remus's cheek.

_"You look so tired."_

"I've been tired," Remus gasped as suddenly, horrifically, pain lanced through his arm. He wished it to stay numb. "For a very long time."

Remus could—God, he could feel the apparition's fingertips against his skin. Warm, familiar. This…his mind must be playing tricks on him. This wasn't real. This was—was some kind of trauma-induced hallucination, it was.

_"Moony." _Laughter, shivering and faint but so, so familiar. _"Always overthinking. Not a very trusting one, you are." _

Remus reached out with his good hand to try and touch the shadow's face. His hand passed right through the mirage.

"I can't touch you." Another explosion rocked the castle and Remus hissed with pain. "You're not real."

The apparition seemed to roll its eyes, a glittering flicker of grey. His fingers seemed to slip through Remus's skin, a warmth accompanied by a rush of memories flooding him.

_Laughter, warm breath, Moony you're such a git…_

_ …stolen kisses, feather light touches, black pupil swallowing grey eyes and Sirius this is so…_

_ Ha, Moony, look at you you're blushing…_

_ Hands tangled in Remus's hair, Remus grabbing a starched white collar Moony knock it off! Someone's gonna see us and…_

_ …Sirius you've changed….Of course I have, damn idiot, that's Azkaban for you…Sirius…Padfoot…_

_ …Moony? _

_ Nothing…nothing's changed…_

"Stop it." Remus shakes his head. "Just. Stop it."

Another face in his mind. Tonks. So innocent, so trusting. So loving. Never knowing the face behind his eyelids is not her, could never be her, that the part of his heart she occupies is not the same and yet still important but never, never the same.

Something crunches in front of Remus. He looks away from the apparition to see a Death Eater stepping closer to him. Mask half gone. It's…Dolohov. Looking right at him. A perfect target, pinned to the ground.

Remus turns to look at the mirage, shocked to see how much more clear it's become. Solid-looking edges, the face clear, sharp, piercing Remus.

"Sirius." Remus murmured. "Padfoot."

"Mate," Sirius's voice is strong, no longer half-static, "you look like you could use a vacation."

"I'm all that's left." Remus whispered. "Even Peter is dead. I—it's like the weight of the world on your shoulders, Sirius, you have no idea."

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Dolohov hissed, a cruel grin twisting his visible features. "Finally gone crazy, werewolf?"

"I'm so sorry, Remus." Sirius is still kneeling next to him, but now Remus can smell him—dog, forest, a sifting of Pureblood ash and acid. "You don't have to be alone anymore."

Dolohov is raising his wand.

"I can't die." Remus is begging. "Sirius—I have a son."

The sadness in Sirius's eyes is so intense that Remus catches his breath. "I know. I'm so sorry, Moony. I—I wouldn't…I wish…"

Dolohov is saying something. Remus should be saying something, too.

Last words.

He squeezes his eyes shut, the tears coming anyway. "Tonks. Teddy. Be safe. Be happy. I love you. And Harry…I'm so, so sorry."

He doesn't look at Dolohov, feels nothing—if there is anything to feel. He simply…steps out of his body, shedding all the pain and the loneliness until he is his seventeen-year old self again. He stands eye-to-eye with Sirius, who is now much more real than their surroundings which are blurring and fading in and out.

"Padfoot." Remus can't tell whether to laugh or cry. "I—"

"Shut up." Sirius grins and grabs Remus's shoulders, crushing their bodies together, hands at his back, fingernails digging into his skin.

"I missed you." Remus says, a strangled cry half way between a shout and a whisper before kissing Sirius fiercely.

Sirius tries to say something but the words are lost in the kiss and neither cares until Sirius pulls back, grinning wildly. "Moony. Much as I enjoy this. I have some people I'd like you to meet."

The world blinks out. Reappears in a white, swirling void. It smells like forest, and suddenly it is—the Forbidden Forest, right near the Whomping Willow.

Standing in front of them. James. Lily.

Remus cries, shouts, runs and embraces James, never intending to let go. He's crying or James is crying but James was always too cool to cry so it must be Remus and, Merlin's pants, Moony, You're getting snot on my shirt idiotidiotgodImissedyou.

"I'm so sorry." Remus's voice is muffled in James's shirt. "I—Harry. I wanted to be there for him I—"

"Not your fault, mate." James shakes his head, unruly black hair falling into his forehead. "We all—we all tried."

"You did well." Lily lays her white hand on Remus's shoulder. "Thank you, Remus."

Her smile is sweet, familiar. Green eyes calm, yet filled with a spark of something that was always what drew James to her.

A shadow lurks at her side. A presence that is familiar yet shocking.

"Severus?" Remus whispers. The shadow wavers slightly, as if acknowledging the name.

"He's very tired." Lily murmurs, eyes flashing protectively. "Don't…just, don't, all right?"

"You know Lily." Sirius growls. "All ways with the charity cases. 'S why she married James."

James cuffs Sirius but Remus doesn't notice, he is too busy staring at the shadow. "Lily. Lily. He killed Dumbledore."

Lily straightened herself up. "That may be partly true. But I can tell you that Severus is an innocent man, and I won't hear anymore about it."

Remus stares at her, but doesn't say anything else on the subject.

"Why are we in the Forbidden Forest?" He asks instead.

Siruis puts his arm around Remus's shoulders, James mimicking the gesture. "We have one last job to do, Moony."

"What?"

"We're helping Harry." Lily says the name with such softness, such loving, that a Remus feels it in his chest. "One last time."

"Don't ask." Sirius shakes his head. "You'll see soon."

Remus looks at Sirius, then at James. "We…we're all together again."

They do not mention Peter. But Remus can see the boy in both his friends' eyes. The pale boy, small, mousy. A follower, weak, a coward. Their friend. James's tagalong. The one who laughed at all the jokes, no matter how funny.

Their friend.

The cause of all their deaths.

"The Marauders ride again, eh?" Sirius grins.

"Striking fear into other's hearts. Causing chaos." James laughs. "Oh, Moony, we've missed you."

The tightness in Remus's chest, the weight on his shoulders, the loneliness that has been crushing him for so long—it's all loosening, dissipating as Sirius grins, flashing Remus covert looks as James laughs and sounds like James and Lily is rolling her eyes and smiling because she loves James and loves all of them.

"Together again." Remus smiles.

This time. Nothing will break them apart.

_A stag wanders through the night, stopping at a house lit up with light and laughter. A man is leaning outside the window, tousled black hair shading his green eyes._

_ The man blinks and then leans over the windowsill, squinting into the blackness._

_ The stag is gone._

_ A dog howls joyfully at the moon. The man in the window smiles, the moon and stars reflected in his eyes._

((o))

_A boy with shockingly violet hair is complaining to his grandmother that he doesn't like the robes and They don't go with my hair, gramma._

_ Well of course not, Teddy, nothing goes with that color of hair._

_ The boy grins, My mum looked good with it._

_ Suddenly he jerks around, looking out the window. _

_ What's wrong Teddy?_

_ I thought…_

_ What?_

_ The boy swallows. I thought I saw a wolf in the mirror. But—there's nothing. _

_ The grandmother smiles, wise eyes knowing. Good omen, I think._

_ Yeah, the boy smiles his eyes the same rich hazel color as his father's, I think so, too._

((o))

_Moony?_

_ What?_

_ I don't know. It's peaceful isn't it? Here._

_ Yeah. Maybe if you stopped talking for longer than a second I could enjoy the afterlife._

_ Oh yeah? You want to do something other than talking?_

__((o))

_A black hill, silhouetted by a clear sky. A full moon. Twinkling stars._

_ A stag stands, moon reflected in his pure-black eyes. A dog growls at his side, desperate to howl and to run, chase. A silver wolf, sleek and huge, waits patiently, finally free from the moon's pull._

_ Somewhere in the distance, the sound of a rat burrowing further underground whispers through the night._

_ The stag begins to walk, a silent signal. The wolf and dog follow. Ready to claim the night._


End file.
